Three teenage girls crossing a bridge in central Florida were killed by a freight train as they desperately tried to get out of its way and a friend on the other side yelled for them to jump, police said today. The girls and the fourth teenager, a boy, were hanging out in Melbourne's downtown area when they decided to cross the trestle around 6:30pm yesterday.
"The male made it across the tracks, turned around, heard the train, saw it and yelled for them to run," said a police spokesman. The girls did not have enough time. The teens' identities likely won't be released until tomorrow, after officials can compare dental records. One witness was watching TV when he heard a loud screech. He went outside and first thought he saw a blanket tangled under a rail car. Then he realized it was a person. "It's going to be hard for me to get to sleep," he told Florida Today. "I can't get it out of my mind." (More train tracks stories.)